Avoid ballot apathy

Here we go again.

The residents of Whitby-Oshawa are, once again, being called upon to decide their political future. This time, it’s at the provincial level.

In her first press conference of the year, Premier Kathleen Wynne confirmed that the byelection to replace former MPP Christine Elliott will take place on Feb. 11, and that the writ will officially be dropped during the week.

For the residents of the provincial Whitby-Oshawa riding, this means another month filled with political promises cluttering mailboxes and campaign signs cluttering the roadside.

And while the call to vote is a message likely growing old among residents in the area – this is the fifth time in less than two years they’ve been called to do so – it’s important to remember that voting is as important as it’s ever been.

This byelection is the first true test of Wynne’s premiership. The last provincial byelection, which took place in Simcoe North, was a test of whether voters wanted to see Patrick Brown, who had recently won the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party, at Queen’s Park. This time, however, the magnifying glass falls on Wynne and the Liberals. Like her policies or not, this area is strongly affected by them.

That may be the reason why the Liberals and the PCs – the two top parties in the province right now – went for political heavyweights in regional councillors Elizabeth Roy and Lorne Coe respectively. These names are already familiar with voters in Whitby-Oshawa, and the parties are counting on that.

The NDPs can’t be counted out either, picking labour lawyer Niki Lundquist, who will surely help bring together the party’s organized labour base.

Byelections typically see voter turnouts lower than full-scale elections, but it’s time to prove the numbers wrong and get out and vote. Sure, it may be getting tiresome going, once again to the ballot box, but as always, these elections are important as they help guide the direction that the community and the province at large are headed.